The present invention relates to a device to determine and display travel quantities of a user of a sports equipment, in particular of a sports equipment which has a contact with the ground at least at times.
Sports equipment which can be fitted to the feet, for example inline skates, roller skates, grass skis, skateboards, snakeboards or sports boots are very popular. In this connection, one should mention other types of sports equipment also, for example, fitness equipment, muscle training equipment, skis, sledges, bobs, bicycles etc. There is a need to determine the sports achievements performed with such sports equipment, for example, the distances traveled or the speeds reached (current speed, maximum speed, average speed).
A road skate with a travel computer which is fitted to the boot of the road skate is known from DE-GM 92 09 825.8. To transfer data from the rollers of the road skate to said travel computer, a friction wheel is provided which acts together with a driver wheel attached to the roller suspension. The travel data determined or computed for a user is displayed here on the topside of the boot of the road skate. The accessing of this data is considered as unpractical and not user friendly.
It is known from WO98/26846 to provide a wheel for roller skates and roller boards with means provided in the wheel for determining its rotating speed and/or the actual speed of travel of a user of the sports equipment. In particular, it is described that the wheel is provided with radio link means for the transfer of data to a display device, in particular one formed in the manner of a wristwatch, to display the data determined.
It is known from DE 297 13 992 U1 to provide a device for measuring travel parameters related to inline skates. Here also, travel data is transferred via a transceiver system to a display device, for example, a wristwatch. In this device, the data determined is continuously transferred to the receiver or display device, this being considered as disadvantageous. Therefore, there is a high power consumption at the inline skates, i.e. the location of the transceiver system. For example, in a battery operated sensor this results in that the battery has to be replaced frequently, whereby the user friendliness of the device is strongly reduced.
It is known from WO98/06466 also to provide a speed measuring device for roller skates, in particular inline skates, in which the rollers are arranged one behind the other. At least one measuring means is mounted on the inline skate or integrated in it. According to a preferred embodiment, a pulse generator system consists of a magnet and a magnetic switch. Finally, a similar system is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,539.
It is the object of this invention to provide a device and a method with which travel quantities of a user of a sports equipment, which has contact with the ground at least at times, can be determined and displayed in a simple manner, whereby in comparison to other conventional devices or methods, a greater user friendliness and less power consumption is achieved.
According to the invention, travel quantities of a user of a sports equipment, for example inline skates, can now be determined and displayed in a very simple, user friendly and energy saving manner. As a send or receive mode occurs only during defined time intervals, the power consumption of the transmitting/receiving means can be reduced noticeably in comparison to solutions known from prior art. As a result of this, a battery provided in or on the sports equipment, in particular in or on a wheel of an inline skate, which is used for the operation of the transmitter and/or a microcontroller for processing recorded travel or fitness data, has a considerably longer service life than in case of conventional solutions.
It will be appreciated that the term xe2x80x9csports equipmentxe2x80x9d used in the present patent application, in particular in the claims, should comprise all possible sports equipment from which travel or fitness data is derivable. In addition to the already mentioned sports equipment for fitting to the feet, sports equipments which are, for example to be held with the hands, for example, tennis rackets or golf clubs, or static fitness equipments also, for example, treadmills or stair climbers are mentioned. By attaching an appropriately constructed sensor provided with transmission means to the head of a golf club or tennis racket it is thus, for example possible to transfer speed or acceleration data of a club or racket of this type to a display visible to the user. The term used also comprises altimeters.
As typical travel data, in particular, current speed, average speed, distance traveled, acceleration or also altitude traveled is mentioned. Typical fitness data is, for example, pulse rate, perspiration rate etc. But the term xe2x80x9cfitness dataxe2x80x9d can comprise also any other measurable physiological data or parameters.
The device according to the invention is characterized by synchronization means allocated to the transmitting means and receiving means for synchronizing switch-on timing and switch-off timing of said transmitting means and said receiving means. Synchronization means of this type can be realized via hardware or also via software, whereby appropriately designed microcontrollers are conveniently used in this connection.
Corresponding advantages result when a battery is used for the power supply to the user accessible device for further processing and/or displaying travel or fitness data.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, the transmitting means and receiving means are designed in such a way that each of their first intervals, i.e. the intervals during which a transmission or a reception takes place, overlap to a large extent. The power consumption at the transmitter end as also at the receiver end can be minimized with this measure. For example, a synchronization of each of the first intervals of the transmitting means and receiving means can be effected in that before starting a measurement, the device at the receiver end for further processing or for displaying the travel or fitness data of the user is activated, whereupon a microcontroller of this device switches on the receiver for a defined start time interval (for example 30 seconds). When during this interval the receiver receives a signal from the electronic means at the transmitter end, this signal can be used for synchronizing each of the first intervals of the transmitting means and receiving means. This results in that the receiving means is switched on only when a transmission is expected from the transmitting means. When the receiving means do not recognize a signal during the start interval, it is, for example, possible to automatically switch off the device at the receiver end for the further processing or displaying of travel or fitness data, whereby, advantageously, it must be manually switched on again for carrying out a measurement.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, for which separate protection is requested, the means for recording or at least partially processing the travel data determine an intermediate signal on the basis of the revolutions of a wheel of the sports equipment, in particular a function illustrating the time per revolution of the wheel, whereby this intermediate signal is transmittable to the means for further processing and is modifiable there, by taking into account an adjustable actual wheel diameter. Hereby it is possible to execute in a simple manner, a large part of the processing of travel or fitness data at the transmitter or sender end, i.e. directly on the sports equipment. For example, it is possible to enter at the receiver end a pre-programmable standard wheel diameter or circumference, so that a software installed at the receiver end can compute in a simple manner the travel data (for example, distance per time) actually determined.
Appropriately, the revolution of the wheel is determined by means of a reed contact mounted in or on the wheel in a non-rotating manner, which acts together with a magnet that rotates along with the wheel. The magnet is integrated into the wheel in such a way that it closes a circuit in the reed contact which is part of the means for recording or at least partially processing the travel data. A reed contact mechanism of this type proves to be particularly robust and reliable in practice.